In looking at the Talk of The Town articles you read for class, what do you notice that is different about this style of journalistic essay writing compared to profile writing? Use specific examples from the reading to support your opinion. Do not forget to respond a classmate.

The difference I see right off the bat between this and a journalistic essay is more related to a personal essay than a profile is. In a profile, you are supposed to remove yourself and all potential bias from the profile and just state the facts about the person. In the journalistic essay about the Mid-Atlantic Library, the author talks about her experiences in New York and at the library. She talks about preferring to write at the Library while working as a freelancer compared to her friends who used café’s. In a profile, the author would examine a person who is not themselves and delve into their life rather than their own. In the Meet-Up piece, it seems more set up as a profile; it is all about David Bronner and tells the reader things about him. It is not like a profile, however, because it changes and does not only talk about him and his life. This story follows the events of one night rather than everything there is to know about Bronner to paint a picture to the reader. At the end of the article Meet-Up, it turns into a summarization of the events of that one night. It uses a lot of dialogue from multiple people about a myriad of topics that go beyond just talking about Bronner. In all the profiles that we read, it follows more than just one event and focuses on the one person being profiled more than an event itself.

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Nicole Wojnowski

10/10/2018 04:54:45 am

Hello Jesse! Seems like we found similar comparative pieces between the profile writing and these articles. I found that you pulled good examples from both texts and used them as support for each thing that you compared the two between. One critique, or constructive criticism for that matter, is that it would be beneficial to use quotes or examples from other pieces that we have read in the past. For example, because we are comparing two things, it might be good to pull examples from both styles of pieces that way the reader can better understand where you are coming from if they haven’t read a profiling essay or article before. Other than that, I feel like you did a good job explaining how they compared. You used both comparative and contrasting details to show that. In your next blog, something that might make the blog even stronger is by using quotes directly from the text. Overall, I feel that this was a great blog post.

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Nicole Wojnowski

10/10/2018 04:42:55 am

As said in Ada Calhoun’s “The Unruly Pleasures of the Mid-Manhattan Library”, she gives precise detail as to where she is (what the scenery is like) and what is going on around her. For example, “…An imposing marble temple, a shrine to scholarship replete with tributes to the Astors, a Sistine Chapel-like reading room, experts in every conceivable field of study…”. An obvious difference that I see between these writing examples and the profile writing is that these are personal to the writer specifically, not on another person. Reading selections like “Mrs. Kelly’s Monster” by Jon Franklin show the perspective of an event and what the person is like but it isn’t personal, it is through the eyes of another person. In “Mrs. Kelly’s Monster”, there was debate as to who the personal writing was about, however, for the type of writing that the articles by Ada Calhoun and Anna Heyward, it is specifically about something that they experienced on their own. There was no need to interview anyone for these writing pieces since the writing was coming directly from the source of the author of the article. A similarity is the length of which the text is. An article sized text with paragraphs that aren’t like what you’d see in a textbook, but long enough that you are able to read without skipping lines constantly to go to another sentence. Most of the paragraphs, like the various examples that we discussed earlier in the semester, are all around the same length.

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Emma Mills

10/10/2018 04:40:19 pm

Hey Nicole, it looks like we had similar views on the difference between a profile essay and the articles that we had to read. I like the examples that you pulled from the articles. The quote that used "An imposing marble temple, a shrine to scholarship replete with tributes to the Astors, a Sistene Chapel-like reading room, experts in every conceivable field of study." This was a good quote to use because the writer is describing what she is seeing. I like the comparison that you used between the articles and "Mrs. Kelly's Monster." Mrs. Kelly’s Monster is a good comparison because the writer is watching everything happen. I like how you pulled examples from different pieces because it helps to see the difference. Good comparisons!

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Emma Mills

10/10/2018 09:20:42 am

The difference between a profile essay and these articles is that a profile essay is supposed to non-bias and you are just supposed to state the facts about a person. The articles can be more related to a personal essay. The writer is writing about her personal experience and everything that they are observing at the library. The writer says “I have observed technically prohibited behavior: a mana watching questionable material on his phone, a woman giving herself an improvised shower in the restroom. The only rule I’ve seen stringently enforced is the one against sleeping; the second someone nods off over his book a guard appears to say, excuse me, sir.” She is sitting in the library watching this happens while she was writing. A profile essay you want to know the impact someone has. It is not in a story format but what they have done or seen. In the second article is talks about David Bronner who is having a conversation with a group of friends to discuss Hilary Clinton. This conversation is all about his point of view on how he feels about her. He is trying to legalize marijuana. This article is showing his views on the best way to legalize marijuana. The writer says, “She’s not the best on the issue, she might improve.” This was his take on Hillary Clinton. If this was a profile essay the writer would be talking about David’s Story and how the best way to legalize marijuana. They would have to find out facts about him as a person.

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Brian P Garland

10/10/2018 11:36:19 am

I agree they're both supposed to not involve the journalist, the styles are both driven by the places, people and things that are being profiled.

While the profile is non-fiction, there's plenty of room for literary techniques, especially in "Mrs. Kelly's Monster", since readers are made to figure out what or who the monster really is, rather than a flat summary of a failed operation.

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Ashley Szczoczarz

10/10/2018 05:29:50 pm

Hi Emma!
That’s a great point that you made. I didn’t think about profile essays focus on the impact someone has on the world, yet journalistic essays are just a moment in time. Now that you say that, I went back and reread the articles and you are totally right! Anna Heyward’s “Meet-Up” is focused on a short, specific amount of time related to David Bronner. However, profiling would have discussed his impact and history on the world. The same thing with Ada Calhoun’s “The Unruly Pleasures of the Mid-Manhattan Library” since they talk about her personal experience and not about the facts of her life and her placement in the world. Profiling is more factual whereas journalistic essays seem to be more biased and more personal. I’m glad I came across your post because I now have a new outlook on what a journalistic essay style might be like!

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Jessy Zeoli

10/10/2018 09:53:57 am

The main difference between the readings this week and profiles are the use of the author’s self within it. When writing a profile, it seems I removed myself a lot from the writing and just focused on the subject. In the readings this week, it was very much about the author’s review or opinion of the subject matter. For example, in The Unruly Pleasures of the Mid-Manhattan Library, the author states, “My husband refuses to go to the main branch, because he says he was shamed by staff when he tried to decipher their byzantine system of ordering books. I, too, have been scolded twice there over the years,” which is the author introducing their personal opinion on the subject. Also, in the article, “Meet Up,” the author states, “Bronner, an athletic-looking forty-two-year-old with a ponytail.” By doing this, the author is stating her personal opinion of the subject and how she interprets that subject. This style is more about interpretation versus fact.

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caitlin

10/10/2018 10:17:14 am

The difference between these two styles of journalistic essays and the profile essays were writing, is that these articles are giving their opinions and were giving an unbiased profile on a person. In "The unruly pleasures of the mid Manhattan library" The author is giving a brutally honest opinion of the library. the title itself lets us know she has dislike towards the library, but more specifically she says " If the new york public libraries were branches, the shawarzmen building would be harvard or yale and the mid manhattan would be community college". In "the meet up" the author gives his opinion on the activist who want to legalize weed. He describes his interviewees and gives an indirect opinion on their appearance. Saying "he wore cargo pants and a black tee with a psychedelic design"

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Nicole Giannino

10/14/2018 11:06:59 pm

Hi Caitlin,

I think you did a good job describing the differences. I liked how you talked about the fact that opinions are given in the examples we read. I agree, and I think that your analysis was spot on, and I liked the examples you used from both readings.

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Brian P Garland

10/10/2018 11:31:36 am

Where a Profile Story is most often a profile of a person, this style of journalistic essay is less restrictive. "The Unruly Pleasures" is a kind of ego-check and one that uses the library as a backdrop for what living in her community is really like, as it borders much nicer places like the New York Public Library.

Talk of the Town articles can sometimes be filled with self-praise and great pride in where they live, but then there's "Unruly Pleasures" which takes a more humble approach to talk about why she loves where she lives, and accepts it for what it is.

It's a profile of the library, but the library is not only what the author is trying to talk about, it's kind of a symbol.

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Ashley Szczoczarz

10/10/2018 01:39:50 pm

I believe the main difference between journalistic essay writing and profile writing is the bias that is used. In profile writing, a person is presented with facts regarding an aspect of their life. The facts are unbiased pieces of information, allowing the reader to form his or her own opinions of the profiling subject. However, journalistic essay has an aspect of bias in the writing. It presupposes that a reader will feel the same way, and forces them to lean more toward the way the beliefs of the author. For example, Anna Heyward’s “Meet-Up” is focused on David Bronner, a Cannabis Activist. This article presents numerous quotes and positive beliefs. Heyward portrays cannabis use as a positive experience, and acts as if each audience member believes that this is also a positive aspect of their own lives. This article would be difficult for someone to read who does not believe the same things as Heyward. In addition, Ada Calhoun’s “The Unruly Pleasures of the Mid-Manhattan Library” speaks about all different New York City library branches. However, it speaks about how the Mid-Manhattan branch is the author’s favorite and why. This presupposes that the audience will agree with the author’s point of view, and will believe the same ideas. However, if a person disagrees, it will also be difficult to read. In profiling, the audience has the power to form their own feelings and point of view, because the facts are neutral. However, in journalistic essay, the point of view of the reader may be distorted because the of the author’s bias.

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Vickie Volcy

10/11/2018 04:49:45 pm

A profile essay is basically you interviewing someone and getting information or more facts about their past experiences and job. Also you get the chance to add your own opinion to their story. Whereas reporting and writing a personal essay is more related to a journalistic essay. An example is Mrs Kelly’s monster where the main character faces a lot of traumatizing issues due to a bad operation and having difficulties describing who the monster really is.

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Nicole Giannino

10/14/2018 10:43:57 pm

I noticed while reading these articles that there is a large difference between these, and the profile writing that we wrote, and read. The biggest difference to me was the focus of the piece. We wrote about people and these articles talk about places. In “The Unruly Pleasures of the Mid-Manhattan Library” by By Ada Calhoun, she did talk about people during her article as well. For example she mentions her husband when she says “My husband refuses to go to the main branch, because he says he was shamed by staff when he tried to decipher their byzantine system of ordering books.” This is different however, from the pieces we wrote, because this isn’t a profile on her husband, it is a profile on the place that she was talking about, the library. I think that there is a very distinct difference in the ways that the journals are written as well. Especially when I compare what I wrote in my profile, the writing is drastically different. Mine was so much more focused on one event as well.

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Kassandra Sweatt

11/7/2018 09:20:56 am

I completely agree! I think that in the Talk of the Town pieces, the writers have a lot more that they can talk about and focus on, whereas the profile essay is honed in on a single person without using biases.

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Nicole Rose Farnworth

10/28/2018 04:07:11 pm

The main difference between Journalistic essay writing and profile essay writing would be the bias put into a Journalistic piece. In a profile, it is strictly information and quotes from the person who is in the profile, no opinion whatsoever from the author. In a journalistic essay, there is lots of bias and opinion from not only the author, but the people written in the essay as well. With the talk of the town articles read, there was a voice in the essay, and it wasn't just facts it was emotion added to it. While in the profiles we have read , there isn't a voice other than the topic written about. Outside voices are included in journalistic essay pieces not in profile essay pieces.

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Kassandra Sweatt

11/7/2018 09:16:25 am

I think that in the Talk of the Town articles the writers are able to use their opinions in order to stregthen their essays, while in a profile the writer is supposed to be more objective. Also, I think that it can sometimes be harder to be creative in a profile essay due to the writer having to be an unbiased party.